Red Hunter
by Skulexander
Summary: A Green Lantern must face an enemy unlike any other she's faced before.
1. A New Enemy Arises

A flash of brilliant green light cut across the sky. All who gazed upon it could feel their resolve harden, and any fear they held wash away. It flew fast, heading toward the Azruli jungles. Few dared to go there. It was home to many terrible beasts. Only one tribe lived there, and recently they had been plagued by a series of mysterious deaths. Men and women would head into the jungle, only to find fellow tribesmen hanging in the trees by their feet... no skin, and no head.

That's why Kor Taul was heading there now. She was a member of a race of beings called the Gutlans, who hailed from the planet Kurtali. To the Gutlans, there was no such thing as fear. Their brains had evolved to never sense fear. Fear wasn't even a word in their vocabulary. As you can imagine, this often leads to them doing stupid things that get themselves killed, so they are not a widespread race. But this makes them prime targets for Green Lantern rings. And that's exactly what Kor Taul was.

Salaak had informed her of an unusual amount of deaths happening on a planet in her sector. That's the planet she was on now. The inhabitants of the planet were primitive to say the least, but luckily a Green Lantern probe had scanned the planet during its patrol and informed Salaak of the deaths going on there. Kor landed in the jungle at the coordinates given to her, and immediately noticed a group of bodies hanging from a tree. If she had a weak stomach, she would be throwing up right now. Luckily she was Gutlan. The bodies had been skinned, and their heads were missing. No, wait. Not just their heads. Their spines too.

It looked like some kind of ritualistic mass murder. But none of the inhabitants of the planet performed any such ritual. And it had to be something that could elude the sensors of the Green Lantern probe. She thought that maybe it was a single psychopathic individual that had started killing their own kind. She used her ring and started scanning the area. Half an hour later, and she found no trace of whoever did this. That wasn't right. They couldn't leave no evidence behind. That was impossible.

Then, she saw something. It was obscured by weeds, and very faint, but she saw a pair of footprints at the base of a tree. Footprints that belonged to no species she knew of. They were pointed toward the tree, as if whatever left them behind went up it. She flew up into the tree to see if she could see anything. She noticed branches that were snapped off as if something big were moving through them. So she followed the trail.

Eventually she came to a place where all the trees around her had branches snapped off in them all over the place. The beast's lair must have been nearby, and all the snapped branches were from it coming and going. She flew up above the treetops to get a good look around, and immediately noticed a very big tree not far away. She flew over to it and immediately noticed several skulls and spines hanging form its branches. Skulls that belonged to the various people and beasts that lived in these jungles. Now she understood. The monster took the skulls of its prey as trophies.

Suddenly a bolt of blue energy hit her in the stomach and sent her flying into a tree. Her energy shielding protected her, for the moment. She looked at where the energy had come from, but saw nothing. That is, until she noticed something that was but a shimmer move through the trees. She blasted at it with her ring, but nothing happened. She supposed she missed. She kept her ring at the ready, but another bolt of blue energy hit her in the back and sent her flying forward. This time, as if on reflex, a sword construct flew out of her ring. As she fell forward, she saw the shimmer move through the trees again, and swung her sword construct at it. This time, it hit.

The beast looked as if it were hit by blue electricity as it faded into view. It must have had some sort of cloaking device, and she shorted it out. It had a huge cut in its chest where Kor hit it, and glowing green blood was leaking out. She had never seen that before. The beast jumped up. Tough little monster. A device on its shoulder pointed itself at her, and another bolt of blue energy flew out of it. This time she easily deflected it with an energy construct. Then she shot the shoulder cannon with a blast from her ring, destroying it. The beast bared its chest, held out its arms, and roared at her. Its mandibles opened up, revealing a mouth with two rows of sharp teeth.

She easily constrained it with an energy chain construct. She brought it closer and inspected it. She had never seen such a beast. Just then, her ring started speaking.

"Warning: dimensional fluctuations detected emanating from the prisoner."

So it was from another dimension. She shook her head, then flew upwards with her prisoner in tow. She contained it in an energy bubble construct. She flew out into space, and started heading toward Oa, where she hoped to find answers about her new prisoner. The beast had constantly been smashing its fists against the energy bubble, trying to escape. There's no way it could have, strong as it was. Suddenly it let out a roar that sounded both devastated and immensely rageful. It seemed to have figured out it was done. There was nothing it could do about its current situation.

"Warning: incoming energy signature," her ring chimed.

She looked behind her and noticed a small pinpoint of red light closing in fast. She slowed down to try and see what it was that was coming closer. But, it was too fast. Before she knew it, it hit her energy bubble, and she was blinded by a flash of light. When her vision cleared, before her stood the beast, now in a red lantern uniform.

"Crap," she stated.


	2. Battle In Space

On Oa, there is the central power battery. In it lives Ion, a being of pure energy. The battery siphons energy from Ion and transmits it to each individual Green Lantern's power battery (AKA, their lantern), which in turn powers their rings. A Green Lantern's ring can hold massive amounts of this energy-energy that can take on many forms, but always radiates green light. However, the energy is useless unless wielded by the right kind of individual. The energy will remain inert unless acted upon by the sheer force of will an individual possesses. Any can wield this power, but few can wield it effectively. That is why few are chosen to be Green Lanterns. And Kor Taul happens to be one of those individuals that was chosen to be a Green Lantern.

She wasn't chosen because she can overcome fear, nor because she cannot even feel fear. She wasn't even chosen because she is a Gutlan. She was chosen because, unlike many others, she possesses vast amounts of sheer willpower. On her homeworld, she was a leader. She got things done. She changed things. Her will allowed her to overcome obstacles, to overcome pain, and to overcome the wills of her adversaries. She always won, and she always will, until one day it got her killed. She would not give up, not even to this beast in a Red Lantern suit who now hovered before her.

Like Green Lanterns, Red Lanterns also had a central power battery, which send energy to their individual lanterns, and in turn to their rings. Unlike a Green Lantern whose power is fueled by their sheer force of will, a Red Lantern's power is fueled by their unbridled inner rage. And while the energy in a Green Lantern's ring will remain inert unless forcibly acted upon by its user, a Red Lantern's ring attaches itself to its host like a parasite. It effectively replaces their heart, and if they try to remove it, they die. It feeds off their rage, amplifying it and using it to purge the energy from the ring in an explosive mess. A Red Lantern, because of their ring, becomes a single-minded being of pure rage. And they need something to unleash that rage upon, so they choose whoever wronged them most to enact their vengeance upon.

From what Kor Taul could tell, the creature was from another dimension. Based on the dimensional anomolies the ring had detected earlier emanating from the creature. Perhaps it passed through some sort of wormhole by accident, or maybe it came here purposely, in order to hunt. Because that's what she thought the creature was all about. It left behind minimal evidence wherever it went, like a hunter. Its technology was specialized for stealth and assassination. A cloaking device. A shoulder cannon that shot some sort of energy beams. But most importantly, it kept trophies. Skulls, spines. It was all about the hunt.

Then, she had cornered it. She had tracked it to its lair. The predator had become the prey. It grew desperate, and attacked her, not knowing anything about its enemy. That she was much too powerful. She easily subdued it. It tried to escape, but after realizing it couldn't, it became devastated. It realized it had become the prey, and had lost. Outraged, it was overcome by immense rage. Because hunting is its whole bieng, and that had been torn from it. Thus, it attracted a Red Lantern ring. Now, the beast in red stood before her.

Instinctively, she flew back and started blasting at it with her ring. The blasts took the form of oskiks, bird-like creatures from her homeworld that she'd always fancied. The beast may not have had any experience with its new ring-not to mention being blinded by all that rage-but it was still a hunter and a fighter to its core. It swung its arm, deflecting the blasts with its shielding. It couldn't deflect them all, though, and one hit the beast in the face. That knocked it out of its senses.

Kor took this moment to attack the beast. She created a giant hammer-like construct, and hit the beast as if she were playing whack-a-mole. The beast plummetted into an asteroid, splitting it apart into several pieces and creating a dust cloud. Kor would not let up her attack. She flew straight into the dust cloud and created a sickle-like construct to attack it with. She was interrupted when a hand came out of the darkness and wrapped itself around her throat. She tried to hit it with her sickle construct, but the beast knocked her hand away, and rammed its forehead into her face, disrupting her concentration. The sickle dissipated. Then the beast brought its face close to hers, opened its mandibles, and roared.

Normally one would not be able to hear such a thing in the vacuum of space, but the rings translated all sounds to its wearer. As it roared, blood-vomit-energy spewed forth from its mouth, pouring over Kor's face. She could feel her energy field weakening. She brought her knee up into the beast's crotch. It stopped its attack immediately. Then she got a few good hits in, quick as a flash. Kilowog taught her well. She spun around and kicked it in the side of the neck, sending it hurtling through space.

"Warning: energy level at 23%."

Crap. She needed to get out of there and recharge her ring. She saw the beast charging toward her again. She needed to wrap this up. Take out the beast and escape in one go. With all her might, she constructed an energy cannon. A big one. And pointed it at the charging beast. It stopped immediately, realizing exactly what she was doing. It tried to roll out of the way, but it couldn't escape her aim. She let loose. The gigantic blast smashed into the beast and sent it hurtling down into the planet below. It also sent her hurtling backwards far into space. The blast was so big, it knocked her out.


	3. The Greatest Red Lantern Who Ever Lived

"Warning: power level at 11%."

Kor Taul pried her eyelids open. Her head was pounding furiously, and she moaned in pain. She pushed past the pain, and took a look at her surroundings. Nothing but empty space. The usual. That's what space was. Empty, for lightyears and lightyears, with bits of stuff floating here and there.

The beast was nowhere to be seen. Good. She would come back for it later, but for now, she needed to get home and recharge her ring. She was at the edge of her sector, so it would take the rest of her reserves to get home. So she started flying home, to her planet Kurtali.

It was close. Her ring's power levels were at 2% when she got there, but she made it home. She touched down in her home city of Vortok. It was a port city. A big one. Merchants from all over the world would come here to sell and maybe trade their wares. She started walking down the roads toward her home. Everyone she passed by acknowledged her presence. The Green Lantern of their sector was famous to them. She nodded to each of them, and continued without word.

Eventually, finally, she made it home. She went into her room. There, on the desk, was her power battery. She walked up to it, held her ring up to it, and spoke the oath. She could feel the power flow into her ring. Her muscles relaxed for the first time since she left. Here, at home, she felt safe. It was the only place. Years of clawing her way to the top had made her tense.

After freshening up in the bathroom, she took a look at herself in the mirror. Tough, leathery dark green skin. Hands with six digits. Brown eyes. No nose. She in particular had short-cut black hair. And a prehensile tail-like appendage coming out of her upper back. This is what Gutlans looked like. And she specifically was a very toned individual with very little fat, so she had a flat chest. Even for a Gutlan, she wasn't a very attractive individual. She pretended she didn't care, but she knew she did really. She sighed, then put on her Green Lantern ring. Her Green Lantern suit was like an armored military uniform. It got the job done. Kor turned and left her house. She was almost immediately greeted by her neighbor.

"Salutations, great one!"

"Oh, uh, hi, Sortul."

"How are you on this fine day?"

"Fine."

"Wonderful! How goes your adventures as a Green Lantern, my dear?"

"Fine. I'm on a mission right now. I should go."

"Alright! Good luck, my dear!"

Kor nodded at Sortul, then turned and flew off. She sighed in relief. When she was giving orders. When she was leading others. When she was in the middle of a battle with a dangerous foe, she had no problems. But try and make small talk, and things got awkward fast. She was not good at socializing at all. She shook her head, and kept flying. She was going straight back to the planet the beast had plummetted into.

* * *

The predator crawled out of the crater it had formed when it hit the planet's surface. It rose up to its knees, looked up at the sky, and roared, blood energy spewing from its mouth. Its dreadlocks shook as it waved its head around.

"Attention: initiating trans-spacial warping in 3 seconds... 2... 1..."

Suddenly a massive amount of energy spewed out of the predator's ring and converged into a large whirlpool. The ring then forcefully pulled him into it against his will. The predator began to feel like it was being torn apart as it zoomed through some sort of wormhole. When it flew out the other side, it smashed into the ground. It took a while for it to even regain its senses. But when it did, it rose to its knees and looked up. Standing there only a few feet away was a towering figure with deep crimson skin. "Welcome to the Red Lantern Corps. I am Atrocitus. You are now my servant, and will aid me in my quest to seek wrathful vengeance upon those who would wrong the helpless."

The predator roared up at Atrocitus, but Atrocitus backhanded the predator, knocking him back to the ground.


	4. Beginning of a New Hunt

A single drop of blood dribbled down the predator's cheek from a cut put there by Atrocitus' ring. Rage welled up inside him, and boiled over. It was too much for his brain to handle. HIs mind was pure anger. The predator lunged at Atrocitus, roaring as his blood spurted from his mouth. The predator tackled Atrocitus to the ground, but Atrocitus threw him over his head with his legs. He then flew up and at the predator, smashing him into the ground. Then he opened his mouth, and vomited his blood all over the predator, stinging him. Then he grabbed him by the throat, and lifted him into the air.

"Beast, you will heed your new master!" Atrocitus growled at him.

"Warning: dimensional fluctuations detected emanating from new recruit," Atrocitus' ring informed him.

"Dimensional fluctuations? Hmm... So you're from another dimension? How did you get here? Dimensional transport could be very useful to me. I'm going to need answers from you! But you're just a mindless beast right now. I guess it's into the blood ocean for you!"

Atrocitus flew up and over the land below, still carrying the predator by the throat. Eventually they came to a sea of pure red. He then raised the predator above his head, and threw him down. The predator splashed into the ocean below.

"The blood ocean will allow you to control your rage enough to think... if you can survive it."

Atrocitus laughed.

* * *

Kor Taul finally came back to the planet where she had last seen the beast. She flew down to it and started scanning the surface, looking for where it had crashed. Eventually she came upon a large crater.

"Attention: spacial distortion detected."

"Spacial distortion? The beast must have opened a wormhole somehow. Or someone opened the wormhole on the other end and pulled it through. Ring: can you trace the wormhole's destination?"

"Destination: Ysmault."

"... Crap."

* * *

Atrocitus stared into the blood ocean. He'd been standing there, staring, for hours. He was waiting for the predator to emerge, but now it was looking like he wouldn't. Perhaps it wasn't so smart to throw an inexperienced new recruit into the blood ocean. Oh well. He'd needed answers, and he wasn't going to get them from a mindless brute. Atrocitus turned and began to leave. That's when he heard something. It was very faint, but it sounded like rippling water. He turned to see what it was, only to be met with an unexpected sight.

The predator had fully emerged from the blood ocean and was lunging at Atrocitus as he was turning. Somehow the beast managed to create a construct out of the red energy from his ring. He'd made a contraption out of it that was attached to his forearm. A long blade and two slightly shorter blades on each side of it stuck out of the contraption past his wrist. The predator swung the blades at Atrocitus. Luckily he managed to step out of the way, so it barely grazed his face.

"You'll pay for that, whelp!" he snarled.

The beast took a step forward and swung the blades again. Atrocitus dodged, and this time grabbed his forearm, then swung him around and threw him.

"You were waiting for me, weren't you? All that time. You truly have quite the patience. The patience of a hunter."

The beast made a series of clicking noises, then snarled at Atrocitus.

"Why isn't my ring translating your speech?" Atrocitus asked to no one in particular, frustrated.


	5. First Kill

The predator charged at Atrocitus with a roar-blood spurting from his mouth-and lunged his armblades at him. Atrocitus stepped aside, grabbed the predator's arm, and twisted it around. It forced the predator to its knees.

"You cannot defeat me, whelp! There is reason for me being the leader of the Red Lanterns. I am the greatest of them all! Now bow before me, or perish!"

The predator pushed past the pain, rising to his feet against Atrocitus' strength, then swung his head back, smashing it into Atrocitus' face. The predator spun around and kicked Atrocitus in the neck. Atrocitus staggered back.

"It would seem you are not to be underestimated. Good. I haven't had a good fight in ages."

Atrocitus lunged at the predator, swinging his fist at it. The predator parried the blow, then brought his elbow up into Atrocitus' jaw. Atrocitus grabbed the predator by the shoulders, then smashed his forehead into his face, dazing the predator. Then Atrocitus vomited his blood all over the predator, which somewhat ate through his shielding. The predator swatted away Atrocitus' arms with his own, then kicked him in the stomach, knocking him back. A construct then formed on the predator's shoulder. It looked like some kind of gun. A blast of red energy spewed forth from it, hurtling toward Atrocitus.

Atrocitus lunged out of the way, rolling over the ground and back up onto his feet, dodging several more blasts from the predator the whole way. He then spat a glob of blood at the predator from his mouth. It hit his shoulder canon construct, dissipating it. The predator roared at Atrocitus as he charged at the predator. The predator charged at Atrocitus, and they met in the middle. There was a large explosion, destroying the ground all around them. They both staggered back.

"Enough of this!" Atrocitus roared at the top of his lungs. He then flew at the predator at top speed, grabbing him by the neck. He flew up into the air with him. Predator tried to escape Atrocitus' grasp, but could not. Atrocitus punched the predator in the face. He then began to speak.

"With blood and rage..."

Atrocitus punched the predator again, sending him flying far through the air.

"Of crimson red..."

Atrocitus flew at him, kicking the predator in the stomach.

"Ripped from a corpse..."

Another blow.

"So freshly dead..."

Another blow.

"Together, with our hellish hate..."

Wham!

"We'll burn you all..."

Wham!

"That is your fate!"

Atrocitus flew above the predator, grasped his hands together, and brought them down upon him with all his might. The predator flew down through the air at supersonic speeds, and smashed into the ground so hard it sent a shockwave in all directions. Atrocitus floated down, landing a few feet from the predator.

"Pity. You would have made an excellent servant. No matter."

Atrocitus thrust his arm through the predator's chest, grasped his heart, and tore it out.

"Oh, you won't die, if you were wondering. You don't need your heart now that you have that ring. But I wanted you to feel the pain. The pain of being heartless, just before you died."

Just then, the heart in Atrocitus' hand melted into red goo-like energy, then dissipated.

"Wha-?"

Then, the entire predator did the same thing.

"WHAT."

Then, Atrocitus roared in pain as he felt something thrust through his torso from behind. He looked down and saw three holes in his chest, but nothing that could have made them. Then he felt something kick him from behind, pulling the objects out. He rose to his knees and looked behind him. Red electricity shot through the air, then dissipated as the predator appeared out of thin air. Atrocitus then yelled into his ring.

"RED LANTERNS! TO ME!"

The predator charged at Atrocitus, who screamed as the predator swung his armblades at his neck, decapitating him.

"Red Lantern Atrocitus deceased. Searching for new suitable host," Atrocitus' ring said as it flew off his finger and began to zoom off.

But the predator caught it in mid air. Then, Atrocitus' voice started coming from the predator, but was distorted, as if someone recorded it and were playing with the audio settings. But instead of making it sound funny, it sounded frightening. Well, more so than if Atrocitus himself had said it.

"With blood and rage... of crimson red... ripped from a corpse... so freshly dead... Together, with our hellish hate... we'll burn you all... that is your fate!"

The predator then grabbed Atrocitus' head, and flew off. Red Lanterns would be coming soon, and he would be waiting.


End file.
